Cage barrier line

[jaketheskate]

Hi guys my dads making me a new cage for my Russian, how high from the substrate should the wood part be? It's going to be wood at the bottom do he doesn't get confused, but the top half is going to be glass so I can still see him. He is a fairly smallish tort.
Thanks
jakob

 

[Tom]

At least 1.5x the length of the tortoise. So if your tortoise is 6" long then make the wood portion at least 9" ABOVE the substrate. You'll have to add the number of inches of substrate you wish to use to the 9" number. For example, if you wanted 6" of substrate, your walls would need to be 15" in this example. Taller if your tortoise is bigger.

 

[jaketheskate]

At least 1.5x the length of the tortoise. So if your tortoise is 6" long then make the wood portion at least 9" ABOVE the substrate. You'll have to add the number of inches of substrate you wish to use to the 9" number. For example, if you wanted 6" of substrate, your walls would need to be 15" in this example. Taller if your tortoise is bigger.

Yeah ok but I'm a kinda short 13 year old.
So i might have 1.5" substrate , the 4.5" wall. 6" total. My tort Is smallish, and he enjoys looking around, i just don't want him confused.

 

[lynnedit]

You really want the substrate to be deeper, at least 4". So go for sides at least 12" -15". You will want to add a couple of hides, rocks, perhaps plants.
Russians can climb anything with even a small toehold. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Tom]

Build your sides nice and tall, but put the enclosure on shorter legs, so you can see down into it at whatever height you are.You don't want to short change your tortoise on the substrate depth and you don't want him to be able to reach the top and pull himself out either.

 

[jaketheskate]

It will be on a cabinet and it has a part screen part wood roof. Also he's always had that mush substrate,
He likes to run around more than burrow.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

how high from the substrate should the wood part be?

you asked this question and a few have given great suggestions as an answer. but, it seems like you have your mind made up and aren't open to them. bummer.

 

[jaketheskate]

I just wanted others opinions based on what I had planed to see if there was any major problem...

 

[RosieRedfoot]

Could it be he runs around all the time because he is seeking a good hunkering down spot? I know my tort likes more substrate and when there was very little it was harder to keep up humidity and she was always pacing. With more substrate she burrows down at night in a corner and half covers herself. But it's up to you whether you follow recommendations or not.

 

[Tom]

Okay. Build your walls the appropriate height, get a step stool to peer in, and eat really well in hopes of growing taller.

 

[jaketheskate]

Speedy growth! I like it!!! : )

 

[biochemnerd808]

Hey now, let's all stay nice!

One thing I've done with my rescues (where I want/need to keep an eye on droppings and might have to clean the tort table more often due to GI issues) is to provide a large deep tin pan (like the kind for baking turkeys) full of deep moistened coconut coir mixed 1:1 (by dry weight) with play sand. I build a little ramp up to it. That way the tort(s) can still get the digging experience, but I don't have to use (and throw away every few days) as much substrate. Something like this might be a good option, so you can test whether your tort likes digging in? Every tort is different...

My 3 healthy torts (right now I am only fostering 1 sick one) all have 3-4 inches of substrate, and LOVE digging in. A few months back I was rehabilitating 1 little tort who had lost part of his foot (bad previous owner, long story), and to prevent substrate from getting into the wound, I had to keep him on newspaper for about 5 weeks. Once his foot was scarred over, he got "real" substrate, and the first thing he did was to dig in.

Speedy growth! I like it!!! : )